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Legislation would criminalize impersonating a decorated veteran

By MEGAN McCLOSKEY
Associated Press Writer

DENVER (AP) - To win the affections of attractive bridesmaids in the new
movie, ''The Wedding Crashers,'' two fun-loving partiers pretend to be Purple
Heart recipients.

Under a bill three months in the making and introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives Friday, the characters portrayed by actors Vince Vaughn and
Owen Wilson would be charged with a crime for falsely claiming to be a
decorated veteran.

''The Wedding Crashers'' scene is a parody of a real life situation that is
angering true military honor recipients who say impostors degrade the
integrity of real medals.

''Somebody else wearing a medal and they didn't earn it. That's defrauding
people who've earned it,'' said George Sakato, 84, of Denver who received the
Medal of Honor for his acts of courage in World War II.

Doug Sterner, a Vietnam veteran who runs a Web site dedicated to Medal of
Honor recipients and has been a part of catching impostors, said the those who
pretend to have medals or Purple Hearts are the exact opposite of those who
have actually earned the honor.

''The phonies are very quick to talk about what they say they've done,'' he
said. ''The true heroes quietly go about their lives.''

Sterner said he hopes the spoof in the movie brings attention to a
widespread problem.

''Here's an example of Hollywood imitating life. Hopefully it brings to the
American conscience that this is what is happening,'' he said.

Others don't think its something to joke about.

To promote the movie, New Line Cinema's movie Web site includes a fake,
paper Purple Heart to cut out, with the spoof: ''Carrying a Purple Heart in
your jacket guarantees you attention, admiration and plenty of free booze.''

''I challenge the producer of that movie to go to Walter Reed Hospital and
walk through the ward and see if he still wants to print out a fake Purple
Heart,'' said Thomas Cottone, Jr., a special agent with the FBI who enforces
the current federal law. ''Talk to some of these people who don't have legs
anymore and see how funny they think that movie is.''

New Line Cinema, which produced the movie, did not immediately return a
phone message Friday night.

''I think it's disgraceful to use that in a movie,'' Cottone said. ''I went
to a funeral for a lieutenant that was killed in Iraq and that's all he got
was a Purple Heart and he didn't even see it.''

Currently only wearing, manufacturing, buying, selling or trading a Medal
of Honor is a crime. The Stolen Valor Act would expand the law to include more
medals and would allow prosecution of anyone who falsely claims to have earned
a military medal or a Purple Heart.

''Medals recognize the best American qualities -courage, honor and
sacrifice. These honors are reserved for those who willingly risked their
lives for our country.'' Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who introduced the
legislation, said in a statement. ''Shame on those who claim credit for acts
of courage they did not commit. Their lies are criminal.''

Since the inception of the nation's highest military honor in 1862, 3,441
individuals have been given the Medal of Honor and only 120 of those
recipients are still alive, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor
Society.

''Literally there are more impostors wearing the Medal of Honor than there
are actual living recipients,'' said Cottone.

''There are many people out there who will say they have a medal, will have
the license plate, list it on resumes, and we can't charge them because the
current law doesn't cover those things,'' he said.

Impostors use the fake medals or fraudulent stories of medals to get ahead
in business or to work their way into the lives of women, Sterner said.

Impostors can buy medals at gun shows and flea markets or online, Cottone
said. Many medals got into circulation from the company that used to hold the
official government contract to manufacture Medals of Honor. That company lost
its contract in 1998 after officials discovered the unauthorized medals.

For Sakato, who is Japanese-American and was originally awarded the Army
Distinguished Service Cross, he said being upgraded to a Medal of Honor about
fifty years later in 2000 was the most meaningful days of his life. That he
said, is what makes what the posers do all that more despicable.

James
Fields (Left) regaled the audience in Chillicothe, MO, on
veterans day with tales of his heroism that earned him a Navy
Cross for heroism in Vietnam while serving under Lt. Col.
Oliver North. The same day in St. Louis, Michael Wielbacher
showed up for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball wearing the Navy
Cross and Distinguished Service Medal, along with a two Silver
Stars with "V", four Bronze, and more. Both were
bogus heroes. Wielbacher is prosecutable but Fields is NOT (he
was wearing a Navy Cross PIN, not the Medal. Both are exposed
in this excellent report from the St. Louis Fox Affiliate.